eCommerce 2024: Anticipating Trends, Embracing Innovation

In the fast-paced world of ecommerce, the digital landscape is constantly changing and evolving. We know it can be overwhelming to keep up with industry trends and ensure your business is ahead of the curve, so we’ve put together a list of our predictions for the upcoming year so you know what to expect.

eCommerce Going Headless

Monolithic architecture is becoming a thing of the past, with a flexible Headless framework taking its place. Headless architecture allows the front-end and the back-end to operate independently, allowing you to make easy front-end changes without affecting the back-end. 

Headless architecture is proving to be particularly popular for B2B businesses looking to streamline their ecommerce stores, and we’re predicting that this is a trend that will continue into 2024. To learn more, check out our blog ‘Is a Headless Commerce Architecture Right For My Business?’.

Hyper-Personalised Shopping Experience

As customer’s expectations of the online shopping experience continue to rise, ecommerce businesses are having to provide personalised shopping experiences to meet these expectations and surpass brick and mortar retailers. With Search and Merchandising platforms like our partners Searchspring and Advanced Commerce continuing to perfect personalisation, we’re predicting that integrations with these platforms will become crucial for ecommerce businesses to get ahead of the competition.

The Era of Generative AI 

Hyper-personalisation is going one step further with the help of Generative AI and conversational interfaces like ChatGPT. As Generative AI continues to evolve, it will bring greater levels of detail and more intelligent digital interactions that will enrich customer experiences and marketing processes. As AI further develops its multimodal capabilities, we’ll see AI beginning to make sense of information in a much more human way, which could mean more and more ecommerce businesses using Chatbots in place of traditional customer service. 

As well as its ability to process and relay information, AI has also been making significant strides in its development of visual design, which is something we’re sure to see more of as we enter 2024 and see AI-generated product imagery potentially playing a more prominent role in ecommerce. 

B2B eCommerce on the Rise

With many B2B businesses making the inevitable shift to online trading, there’s an increasing focus on providing a B2B experience that matches B2C ecommerce in terms of user experience. This will mean that B2B commerce will continue to advance, with the intention of providing a streamlined and personalised process. 

Here at 5874, we’re experts in providing B2B ecommerce for our clients. To learn more about how your B2B business can grow online, read our blog post ‘Crafting The Ultimate B2B eCommerce Landscape’. 

Sustainability & Eco-Friendly Commerce 

Sustainability was one of the ecommerce trends that we predicted for 2023, and this will continue to be an ongoing theme in 2024 as well. As the environmental impact of ecommerce is becoming more evident, many consumers are looking for ways to shop more sustainably. In response, a lot of major retailers are making the necessary changes to lessen their impact on the environment. This urgency for sustainability is particularly needed in the ‘fast fashion’ industry, as Earth.Org says it is “the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.” For example, retail giant Zara have been making moves to a greener future for fashion, with its owner, Inditex, introducing Zara Pre-Loved in 2022 and now making promises to boost the use of recycled fibres, with all textile products using more sustainable fibres by 2030. 

Here at 5874, we’ve also been making efforts to be a more sustainable agency for our ecommerce clients. We’ve even conducted our own research and produced whitepapers on the subject of sustainable commerce and returns: ‘Conscious Commerce 2.0 – The Race for Sustainability in Retail’ and ‘The Point of No Return: A Retailer’s Guide to Returns’.

More Focus on Loyalty Programs 

In the ecommerce industry, there’s a huge focus on getting customers to convert to your site. Although getting your customers to make that first purchase is a crucial step, ecommerce businesses are learning that retaining loyal customers is arguably even more important. As competition continues to grow in the ecommerce industry, ecommerce businesses are having to provide great loyalty programs in order to stand out and keep customers coming back. 

Just as personalisation is the key to a memorable shopping experience, it should also be implemented when trying to retain customers. Therefore, we’re predicting that loyalty programs and post-purchase marketing campaigns will have to continue the theme of personalisation in order to turn a one-time buyer into a lifelong customer. 

Social Commerce Transforms Online Shopping

2023 has certainly seen social commerce and omnichannel selling becoming the norm for ecommerce businesses. As online shoppers care more and more about efficiency and a seamless shopping experience, ecommerce businesses will have to live up to these expectations by allowing customers to navigate to the checkout from whatever platform they’re on. 

In November 2023, The Women’s Domain (a campaign created by 5874 Commerce), recognised this growing trend and held an event all about The Rise of Social Commerce with a focus on the impact women have had on this. The event consisted of a panel discussion between some amazing women in the industry and touched on topics such as the importance of community, how women are leveraging social media trends to drive business growth and influencing customer behaviour through authentic connections. See a full recap of the event here.

Creativity & Innovation

As the ecommerce industry continues to grow, so does the amount of competitors that your business is up against. With this comes an endless amount of content, tech and products for your audience to choose from. In order for ecommerce businesses to compete, creativity, uniqueness and innovation will be more important than ever as we enter a new year. Standing out from the crowd has never been more important.

Keeping on top of industry trends is crucial for ecommerce success as the industry continues to grow and evolve at such a rapid rate. To ensure your business doesn’t get left behind, get in touch with our ecommerce experts at 5874 Commerce and we’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop – contact us here.